Veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has agreed to replace Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria, though he intends to take a fresh approach as the 17-month-old conflict slips deeper into civil war, UN sources said

Annan, a former UN secretary general and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is stepping down at the end of this month after six months in the job. He said his Syria peace plan was hampered by a divided and deadlocked UN Security Council.

Diplomats said Brahimi, who had been unsure for days about whether to accept the offer of the post from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, did not want to be seen as a mere replacement of Annan, but wanted a reconfigured title and fresh approach to his mandate as a peace broker.

"He has agreed to take the post, but with an amended title; he has new ideas about the approach to take," a UN source said on condition of anonymity, adding that Ban accepted that. Two Security Council diplomats confirmed the remarks.

UN officials said it was not clear when an official announcement would be made. Annan's title was joint special envoy for the United Nations and Arab League.

It remained unclear what Brahimi's formal link with the Arab League, if any, would be, diplomats said. They said Brahimi would be based in New York, unlike Annan, who is based in Geneva. Syria had only accepted Annan as a UN representative of the United Nations, not the Arab League, which suspended Syria's membership due to the escalating violence between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels determined to oust him.

Brahimi has demanded "strong support" from the Security Council for efforts to secure a negotiated peace, envoys said.

A source familiar with the situation said that if Brahimi took the job as the new UN-Arab League mediator, he would not continue with Annan's "failed approach" to the conflict, but he would seek a fresh strategy.

Many UN diplomats say that Annan's six-point peace plan remains a good departure point for any mediation effort.

Last week Brahimi said he wanted an end to the international deadlock on Syria.

"The UN Security Council and regional states must unite to ensure that a political transition can take place as soon as possible," Brahimi said in a statement published on the website of The Elders, a group of global leaders committed to peace and human rights.

Annan was frustrated with the deadlock between the five permanent Security Council members. Russia, backed by China, repeatedly vetoed Western- and Arab-backed resolutions that criticised Damascus and threatened it with sanctions, saying the US, Europe and Gulf Arab states were seeking regime change.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Brahimi to replace Annan as mediator on Syria and will take fresh approach